Motivatingadultswithtrulyadultcontent

RachaelRoberts,TeacherTrainerandOUPauthor

SomeadultlearnersofEnglish,especiallyinmoreadvancedclasses,areincrediblyhighlymotivated,
withastrongloveoflearning.However,perhapsthemajorityofadultlearnersfindmotivationabit
moreofastruggle.Theyhavebusylivesandarangeofothercommitments,andtheymaylack
confidenceintheirabilitytolearnanewlanguagetoanydegreeofproficiency.

Ourapproachtoadultlearnersneedstobequitedifferentfromteachingyoungerlearners,andeven
teenagers.Thetermandragogy,popularisedbyMalcolmKnowlesintheearly70s,providesa
contrasttopedagogy,whichcomesfromtheGreekwordspaed,meaningchild(asin
paediatrics),andagogusmeaningleaderof.AccordingtoKnowles,oneofthekeywaysinwhich
andragogyshouldbedifferentfrompedagogyisthatitshouldtakeaccountofthegreaterlife
experienceofadults.

Adultsmayhaveexperienceofwork,relationships,children,differentcultures,andofdifficulties
andchallengesthatyoungerstudentshaveyettoencounter.

Materialsaimedattheyoungadultmarketwilloftenavoidsuchtopicsbut,asKnowlessays,while
tochildrenexperienceissomethingthathappenstothem,toadults,experienceiswhotheyare.

HegoesontosaythatTheimplicationofthisfactisthatinanysituationinwhichtheparticipants
experiencesareignoredordevalued,adultswillperceivethisasrejectingnotonlytheirexperience,
butthemselvesaspersons.(Knowles,HoltonandSwanson2015:45)

Adultswillbemotivatedbymaterialwhichallowsthemtousetheirgreaterlifeexperience.Atruly
adultcourseshouldprovideanopportunitytoexploretopicswhichmightnotbeappropriateor
engagingforyoungerlearners.Forexample,inNavigateB2:

Lesson6.2looksatnewtrendsinliving,suchasonepersonhouseholdsandcohousing,
whereresourcesandfacilitiesaresharedwithneighbours.

Lesson7.2looksatworklifebalanceandtherecentdecisionbysomecompaniestoban
emailsoutsideofworkinghoursandlesson

Lesson12.1looksatthequestionoffamilysize,consideringhowmanychildrenisoptimum,
includingtheoptionofnothavingany.

However,notallthetopicswedealwithintheclassroomneedtobeadultspecific.Thekeythingis
toensurethatweengageadultsbymakingtheirownexperiencesacentralpartofthelesson.This
doesntmeanthatwecantdealwithsomethingnewtothem.Forexample,anotherlessonin
NavigateB2isbuiltaroundaninterviewwithAmna,originallyfromPakistan,nowlivinginNorway,
whereitcanbelightfor24hoursinsummeranddarkfor24hoursinthewinter.Studentsmaynot
haveactuallyexperiencedthisphenomenon,buttheywillhaveenoughlifeexperiencetoimagine
whatitwouldbelike,andtoanswerquestionssuchasIfyoumovedtoanothercountrywouldyou
prefertolivesomewhereverydifferenttoyourhomecountryorquitesimilar?Why?

Whileteenagersmaydisliketoomuchpersonalisation,feelingunwillingtosharetoomuchincaseof
ridiculebypeers,adultsgenerallyvaluetheopportunity,providedthatwegivethemoptions.For
example,asetofsentenceswherestudentshavetofillinthegapswithvocabularycanbe
personalisedifweaskstudentstochoose3ofthesentences(sotheycanavoidanything
uncomfortable)andchangethemsotheyaretrueforthem.

Aclassoftenyearoldsarelikelytohavehadquitebroadlysimilarlifeexperiences(unless,ofcourse,
somehavebeenrefugeesorexperiencedothermajorchallenges).Agroupofadultsislikelytohave
amuchgreaterrangeofindividualdifferences.Thisischallenging,becauseitmeanstheneedfor
individualisationisevengreater,butitalsoprovidesawonderfulopportunityforstudentsto
communicateaboutsomethingreal.Ihaveneverforgottenaclassonthetopicofextremesport,
whereoneclassmembersuddenlytoldtheclassabouthisexperienceofplayingRussianRoulette.
Nooneevennoticedthebellforendofclass.

Everylearnercomestoclasswithalifetimeofexperience,butforagroupofadultlearnersthat
experienceislikelytobeparticularlyfullandwideranging.Soletsuseit.